Intercepted by Love: Part One: A Football Romance (Playing the Field Book 1) by Rachelle Ayala Page B

those words slip? He’d never known what love was, and he wasn’t the type of man who went all mushy. He’d kept his feelings in check. He had to when he never knew when he’d have to move or be assigned another family to stay with. So why had it felt so natural to say, I love you, Andie ? It wasn’t something he threw around, and he definitely wasn’t sure what it really meant. Hopefully she didn’t hear him. Maybe he’d only thought it, not spoken it out loud. He couldn’t give her the right kind of love if he’d never known it before.
    Cade stumbled forward, not knowing where he was going, except to go downhill. Down, down, toward what? Civilization? The parking lot.
    He wasn’t sure what that noise was. A lawnmower or a wood chipper. He walked toward it, but the sound shifted so he turned around.
    “Red? Red?” he called. Where had that dog gone?
    Cade lost his footing and tumbled down a ravine. When he stopped, he was flat on his back. The rays of sun blinded him because his goggles were long gone, probably slipped off his helmet.
    The sky was bright blue, so blue it was unreal. Was that what they called cerulean? He could almost hear angel’s voices and harp strings. It was that kind of peaceful. Yet something was missing, a flash of red, a woman’s laugh, her freckles dancing on her pert ski jump nose, those jade green eyes. Where was she?
    A cloud of red pounced on him, and a warm tongue lapped at his face, slobbering. Hot breath fanned his face, followed by sharp barks in his ear.
    “Okay, okay.” The pain returned, and Cade swiped at the wiggling distraction. He’d rather have the woman, but a dog would be all he’d ever have. “Good boy, Red. Good boy.”
    Yes, he’d appreciate what he had. Half-full, right? He had Red, and he wasn’t going to overreach for that other redhead and ruin everything. However, if he didn’t try, he’d never know. Never know a life with her, a chance to love and be loved. A gamble worth risking his heart for. Because even ugly babies deserved love. And since he’d never given anyone his love, he had a lot to give. He couldn’t let her down without trying.
    Woof. Woof. Red tugged at his collar, trying to help him up.
    “I got it. I’m not a quitter,” he mumbled through frozen lips. “I’m going back. Not quitting. I’ll win the Super Bowl someday. I’m going to get the girl. I have a heart. A good heart, and no one’s keeping me down.”
    Slowly, his joints and bones screaming with pain, Cade struggled up the slope after his dog. His knees gave out after a few steps, and he dropped to all fours. He had to stay with his dog. He couldn’t let Red get lost. He didn’t want to die. Now that he’d found Andie, he couldn’t lose her. He couldn’t miss tasting his cake and eating it too.
    Woof. Woof. Red bounded toward a whirring sound. Cade crawled faster. He tried to stand, but he kept falling. Hand over hand, he pulled himself up.
    “Cade. Cade. Thank God. Oh, thank God.” Andie jumped over him, pulling and tugging.
    “Miss, miss, don’t move him,” a man’s voice said. “I’m calling in for a rescue sled. We have to put him on a backboard until we check him out.”
    “I’m okay. I can walk.” Cade pushed himself to his knees. No way was he going to be a wuss dragged out of there like an invalid. “I got it. I’m okay.”
    Shivering and aching, he climbed to his feet and fell forward. Andie caught him, along with the rescuer. The man looped his arm over his shoulder and helped him to the snowmobile.
    “My dog, don’t forget my dog.” Cade needn’t have worried. Red hopped onto the bike carrier that the snowmobile dragged.
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    “ Y ou didn’t pack a change of clothes?” Andie slid the keycard into their room at the ski lodge. It was located at the edge of the resort and included a kennel where they boarded Red. Cade was on massive pain killers and in no condition to drive back to Itasca, so he’d gotten a room for the night.
    Cade